PalmOS (actually LinuxOS) Super Cheap Laptop. $500.

Cancelled before it was sold.

May30'2007 coverage (part 2)

May31 interview with Jeff Hawkins.

• Hawkins then discussed a theme we've heard often from Palm Execs - the difficult tradeoffs in making a Smart Phone (MobIle). A smartphone has a screen that's as large as possible, has a battery that will last throughout a full day of use, has a keyboard that's easy to type on, a processor, memory, etc. All these features have to be balanced very carefully - they limit the ways in which a smartphone can be designed. Suddenly, for Hawkins, having the Foleo allows him to make a sort of end-run around some of these issues (like the screen and keyboard, the two most-cited features of the Foleo). "I can think about these problems differently. It gives me a different palette I can use to think about apps. ... It moves the burden of email (for example, to the Foleo), frees up the balance of functionality."

• Hawkins talked about how refreshing it is for Palm to have total control of a product end-to-end. With the Foleo, there are no carrier (TelCo) restraints... "It was never meant to be a LapTop replacement."... I asked why the device is designed to be used exclusively with a smartphone, or nearly so. Why no server-side software, no PC client for it to sync with? Hawkins talked about how the PC-side is where 90% of tech support hassles and headaches seem to occur for Palm. He's not interested in syncing with the PC, it never entered into his mind that this should be plugged into a PC. While Hawkins was discussing why he didn't think PC sync was important for the Foleo (one reason - no need for execs to even tell their IT department they're using one), I kept thinking to myself "He doesn't want to sync with the PC. He wants to eliminate it."

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